“When I kept a diary, I realised that it was all moanings and depressio...” — Claire Tomalin Quote

“When I kept a diary, I realised that it was all moanings and depression, and I think that is quite common.”

“Dickens had more energy than anyone in the world, and he expected his sons to be like him, and they couldn't be.”

“People who attack biography choose as their models vulgar and offensive biography. You could equally attack novels or poems by choosing bad poems or novels.”

“My life was a sort of series of random disasters.”

“I belong to the Richmond Concert Society, who put on very good concerts.”

“Dickens is a lover of human beings; a relisher of human beings.”

“My grandmother was a minister as well, which was not that common in the 1930s.”

“Divorce is fairly common these days, and I think many times people disregard the emotional impact that divorce has on a couple and a family, because it happens so frequently.”

“Most of the time common stocks are subject to irrational and excessive price fluctuations in both directions as the consequence of the ingrained tendency of most people to speculate or gamble... to give way to hope, fear and greed.”

“There can be no compromise with war; it cannot be reformed or controlled; cannot be disciplined into decency or codified into common sense.”

“Football is the ultimate team sport. You're dependent on 10 other people on the field to have success on a particular play to get to the common goal, which is the win. On a set, we need everybody doing their job and pulling their weight.”

“Observation and thinking are the two points of departure for all the spiritual striving of man, insofar as he is conscious of such striving. The workings of common sense, as well as the most complicated scientific researches, rest on these two fundamental pillars of our spirit.”